Centuries
by Exactlywhat
Summary: Inspired, of course, by Centuries, by Fall Out Boy. Sure someone's done it by now, but whatever. I haven't read any, and I've been meaning to write this for a bit.


Title: Centuries  
Warnings: Violence  
Rating: T  
Continuity: AU G1/Movieverse  
Characters: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker  
Disclaimer: Don't own - Transformers or the song  
Notes: Inspired, of course, by a href=" watch?v=LBr7kECsjcQ"Centuries, by Fall Out Boy/a. Sure someone's done it by now, but whatever. I haven't read any, and I've been meaning to write this for a bit.

The two mechs stood side by side in the darkened gate of the arena. Each held a short sword, one in each hand. Under their feet, finely ground metal shavings scraped quietly whenever they shifted.

Guards stood behind them, armed with long pikes and massive riot shields. A heavy portcullis of electrified bars separated the gladiators from the guards.

All were silent, listening to the roar of the crowd as the next fight - their fight - was announced, the words muffled and indistinct. The two mechs had no idea who they were fighting, but from the deafening cheers, it had to be someone highly ranked.

~Any idea who?~ the red mech questioned across their spark-link.

~None at all. Ready, bro?~

~Always.~

They looked at each other and grinned. A gong sounded from the arena, and they started forward with slow, methodical steps.

The glowing portal into fighting ring grew as they moved toward it, and, suddenly, they were in the dusty bowl of the arena. The ground was made up of the crushed frames of dead mechs, left there to rot and crumble. It crackled under their feet with every step. A thin layer of rusty dust rose around them, clinging to their legs.

Across from the massive arena, another mech strode from his own entrance portal. He was huge, heavily armored and armed, with a massive battle axe slung over his shoulder, a club hung at his waist, and a shield carried across his back.

~Well. This will be interesting,~ Sunstreaker rumbled as he twirled his sword in a tight circle.

Sideswipe grinned beside him. ~That it will.~

The two mechs split apart, moving to flank their opponent, each stalking along one side of the circular arena. The big mech stopped when he reached a point halfway to the center. The battle axe in his hands was held steady in front of him, his legs bent slightly as he prepared to attack whoever struck first.

Without any indication of their intent, the two mechs changed directions instantly, pushing off with one foot and launching themselves toward the center of the arena and their opponent, swords lifted wicked snarls on their faces.

The larger mech dove backwards and swung his battle axe to the side, hitting Sideswipe with the flat of the blade, sweeping him away. He crashed to the ground amid the cheers of the watching crowd.

Sunstreaker brought his blade down in retaliation, but the larger mech saw it coming and twisted. The blade skated harmlessly off the shield on his back, sending up a shower of sparks.

A furious shout was flung from Sunstreaker's vocalizer as he brought the sword around in a quick side strike. It was blocked with the long haft of the axe.

Sideswipe was on his feet again, and leaped toward the mech currently occupied by his brother, sweeping his sword toward the mech's neck cabling. By chance, he raised his axe to swing at Sunstreaker, and it caught the tip of the oncoming blade, twisting it away from his neck.

Knowing he was distracted by the attack, Sunstreaker stabbed forward. His sword stuck harmlessly in the mech's thick chest plating. As he turned, the sword was ripped from his hands, and he stumbled backwards, weaponless.

The larger mech, having caught Sideswipe's sword in the curve of his axe, knowing Sunstreaker was unarmed, rotated his weapon, twisting the red Twin's sword from his grip. It flew across the arena and slammed loudly against the curved wall.

The crowd went crazy.

A flurry of thought-emotion-impressions flew across the Twins' spark link.

As the larger mech went to follow up on disarming Sideswipe, Sunstreaker launched forward, gripping the edges of the shield, bracing his feet against the other mech's lower back, and _pulled_.

With a screech of bending metal, the shield pulled free. Their opponent turned to face the yellow Twin, but he was already skipping backwards, holding the shield between them. The axe came down, but it did little to dent the massive metal plate.

Behind him, Sideswipe was racing toward the wall where his sword had fallen.

Sunstreaker retreated before a deadly hail of blows, stepping deliberately over the treacherous ground. He slowly started to curve, heading toward where his own sword had fallen. The larger mech realized what he was trying to do and attempted to head him off, but the Twin was faster.

A sudden realization occurred to their opponent, and he spun to see what Sideswipe was doing. The red Twin had almost reached his sword.

With a shout, he drew back and hurled his axe. It spun end over end, and Sunstreaker gave a shout.

Without even looking in their direction, Sideswipe dove and rolled, skidding across the ground, kicking up dust, coming up coated in gray. The axe flew over his head, the haft narrowly missing him as it spun.

The red Twin rose with his sword in his hand, then glanced down and behind him. A grin spread over his face and he bent again. Another sword, this one shorter and stockier, was in his hand when he rose, taken from the crumbling form of a former gladiator. He spun them both in tight circles, loosening up his arms as he began to walk forward again.

Sunstreaker took the opportunity to lunge forward and retrieve his own sword from where it was stuck in their opponent's chest armor, tearing it out as he dove past the mech, rolled, and came up between him and his brother.

Their opponent pulled out the massive club that had previously been swinging at his waist.

Sunstreaker backed up as Sideswipe moved forward, until they were standing side by side, Sideswipe with his dual swords, Sunstreaker with his sword and stolen shield.

~Once more into the fray,~ the red Twin thought viciously as he crouched lower.

Sunstreaker laughed out loud. For once he didn't care that his plating was scratched and dented.

~Think we can do it?~ Sideswipe hissed as he grinned. Neither of them doubted.

~Of course!~ the yellow Twin snarled as he lunged forward with no warning, shield forward, sword arm raised, prepared to strike.

Sideswipe lunged with him, perfectly in time, both swords posed to attack.

Their opponent raised his club, but the Twins were too fast. They ducked as he swung, coming up inside his reach where their short swords could still do damage but his club couldn't.

One of Sideswipe's swords caught one of the tension cables under his arm, exposed when he tried to swing again. Sunstreaker slid the shield under his other arm, using himself to pry it away from the mech's body, keeping it immobile, while he rammed his sword into the mech's side, a painful but not very dangerous wound.

A quick flick, and Sideswipe's other sword, the found one, slammed into the mech's heel, crushing the relatively thin armor. The crimped metal prevented the ankle from bending.

The Twins pulled back for a moment, examining the damage they caused, then began their attack anew. They took turns darting in, stabbing, slashing, and poking the larger mech. Injured as he was, he was slowed. He could not predict who would attack next, or where, much less keep track of the two brightly colored mechs.

Small injury after small injury added up. Energon began to clump on his armor as the dust raised by their movement clung to it.

He realized the club was useless. It was slow and clumsy. He dropped it and made a grab for the closest Twin, Sunstreaker.

The smaller mech danced backwards, but not quite fast enough. Their opponent gripped his shoulder plating in an iron fist.

Sideswipe darted forward, ramming the longer sword under the heavy chest plating, angling it upwards. The weapon came free of his grip, stuck halfway into the heavier mech.

Sunstreaker twisted in their opponent's grip, not trying to get away. He pulled the shield between them and rammed himself forward, forcing the sword even deeper.

It resisted, then slid easily. The bigger mech stumbled back, grip loosening. The Twins stepped back, watching.

He wobbled, then fell to his knees. Jolts of electricity danced along what could be seen of the sword - his punctured spark expanding and expending its energy. He blinked once. They nodded back - a gladiator's quiet acknowledgement of a well fought battle and a promise to honor their opponent's designation.

The Twins only then became aware of the cheering of the crowd as the mech toppled over, armor already graying.

The gong sounded again. The announcer spoke, and this time they could hear him.

"And the Terror Twins are victorious again! The Mighty Catastrophe has been defeated! This battle will surely go down in history! It will be remembered for centuries!"


End file.
